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Freeformaniacs Update

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Tomorrow on the Freeformaniacs show … Jerome and Endemic! Make sure to tune in at KraftyRadio.com

Oh, and let me know which of my 2013 mix concepts you want to hear!

Here is a selection of some of the recent episodes:

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More XLR8R Podcast Cue Files …

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Just a little post for today, but I wanted to let you know that I’ve now updated my XLR8R Podcasts cue file frenzy post with cue files for XLR8R magazine podcasts from techno hero Ben Sims, UK Funky maestro Champion, deep beats wizard Om Unit, and Detroit electro mainstay DJ Stingray. Check it out!

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Saturday Mix Round-Up: Luke Vibert, Butterz, Special Request, and more!

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It’s Saturday! Here are a few mixes that I’ve enjoyed recently on Soundcloud (imo, Soundcloud is now hands-down the best music service on the net):

First up, is Fact Mix 362, Special Request’s mix for the Fact mix series, which charts a course through rave sounds, from old to new. Special Request is a new(ish) alias of long-time house producer Paul Woolford, covering some fresh house interpretations of the old skool hardcore sound. Good fun!

Next up is ‘Amenarchy’, an absolutely blazing new skool jungle mix from San Diego’s DJ Rebellion; I found this on the always excellent RaggaJungle.biz site. Some absolutely murderous breaks and basslines on this – I really really enjoyed this mix, and you will too.

Elijah and Skilliam from Butterz have been enthusiastically driving the grime renaissance over the last few years through their label, blogs, radio shows, and club gigs, and, of course, their mixes. Their latest one, a Valentines special for the Special Request mix series, showcases the more romantic side of grime (well, everything is relative) … featuring tracks from Ruff Sqwad, Wiley, Dizzee Rascal, and many more. I thought it was great – an excellent selection of quality tunes, both old and new. If you liked my Drop The Hammer 8 then you’ll dig this.

Staying on a grimey tip, off the back of a recommendation from Mark Jenkins of Fried My Little Brain I discovered this excellent mix by Slackk. Slackk has a unique style, mashing together grime sounds with house rhythms to make a unique London dance sound, all clicks, squawks, and icy cold blasts of Eskibass.

Last but very much not least is this live recording of Luke Vibert’s set at Vinyl Pimp’s Hackney shop last Saturday night in conjunction with Discogs. I’ve been good friends with Man Hon Luk, the Vinyl Pimp himself, for over ten years and it’s really really cool to see his business doing new and exciting things. Sadly I wasn’t able to make it to the party last weekend because my little girl was sick, but just listen to this set – listen to it! A thing of true beauty. If you’re on Facebook you can see an album of photos of the night right here.

Oh yeah, and if you’re a vinyl junkie and you have a Discogs wants list, click here to see what the Vinyl Pimp has in stock for you!

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Mix concepts for 2013

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About one year ago, in my Morally Diminished 3 post, I said:

Every mix I do starts with an idea. Not a big idea, not a complicated idea, but a simple idea, one that can generally can be boiled down to a sentence or less … At any given moment I have a whole bunch of these little mix ideas floating around my head – some of them are quite fleshed out in terms of what kind of tracks I want to feature, while others are much vaguer, just a basic concept and a fuzzy feeling that, hey, it would be nice to put that mix together at some point.

Nothing has changed …

I still have lots of ideas for mixes! So, I thought it would be fun to share some of the concepts with you and get your feedback, as it would be really good to hear what people want to hear. Having borrowed some CDJ’s from my good buddy Jamie, I can also do some different mixes than before, it being a lot cheaper to pick up 15-20 tracks digitally than on vinyl!

At this point I should point out that I already have two fresh mixes in the bag and ready to be posted to Sonicrampage. Rampage Turbo 15 is already available to stream, but I’ve not had a chance to split it into separate tracks yet, due to my desktop pc being on its deathbed; I’ve got a new one on the way, so that mix should be available to grab sometime next week. Also coming later this month is Slaves to the Silver Box, an old skool acid mix that I have done for DI.fm’s Old School Mix Marathon V (check out the mixes from volume four) – I’m quite excited for that project, because besides the mix being another 303 journey along the lines of The Waveform Cult and Beyond The Valley Of The Acid Vixens, featuring tracks from the likes of Hardfloor, DJ Misjah, Nostrum, Josh Wink, and more, but it’s also having a cover made up by an old high school friend who has very handily turned into an awesome artist, plus I have a pretty cool idea for the accompanying essay – I just need to make that a reality!

So, without further ado, genre by genre, here are some of the mix ideas I had in mind for 2013:

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Girdler Synthetic’s Nuw Idol Tribute

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The one and only Girdler Synthetic is back with a bang, kicking off his 2013 sets with a tribute to minor trance deity Nüw Idol, aka Michel Spiegel. This has only just gotten uploaded to the Penguin Conspiracy Soundcloud page, so it’s fresh, fresh, fresh!

Nuw Idol was one of my favorite trance producers back in the late 90’s/early 00’s. I loved his style of driving, hypnotic dance music – real trance music, not the arpeggiated candyfloss bullshit greedy schlockmeisters were churning out by the bucket load and, in the process, ruining the good name of trance.

5 minute breakdowns? Fuck that, Nuw Idol was there to get you dancing! His WellWicked Records pretty much always came up with the goods, which is why it’s so nice to have all of his finest tunes smooshed together in one cd’s worth of hard, euphoric joy. Of course, as ever with Girdler Synthetic’s mixes, this is a suitable tribute, expertly mixed and beautifully programmed.

Grab it, grab it now.

Or, um, stream it, stream it now …

Tracklisting:

01. Nüw Idol – Wicca – WellWicked
02. Nüw Idol – The Embrace – WellWicked
03. Nüw Idol – Touch The Lazer – WellWicked
04. Nüw Idol – Polly’s Pharmacy – WellWicked
05. Nüw Idol & Oberon – Point Of Entry – WellWicked
06. Nüw Idol – Sin – WellWicked
07. Nüw Idol – WOW – WellWicked
08. Nüw Idol & Gianni – The Gates Of Time – WellWicked
09. Nüw Idol – Satann – WellWicked
10. Nüw Idol – Kick Drum Domination – WellWicked
11. Nüw Idol – My Liberation – WellWicked
12. Nüw Idol – Life Is The Poison – WellWicked
13. Nüw Idol – The Quickening – WellWicked
14. Nüw Idol & Oberon – Bag Of Trix – WellWicked

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Weekend Treat!

fresh rolls

Om nom nom nom … my wife is doing a Cordon Bleu course at the moment, and these are the kinds of goodies I am getting. Life is tough!

On another note, here’s a streamable version of Rampage Turbo 15; proper post and download link coming next week, but for now wrap your ears around this:

Freeformaniacs Round 8 – Pearsall presents Rampage Turbo 15 (31/01/2013) by Freeformaniacs on Mixcloud

Of course, I would be remiss to not include in this post the two other great mixes that have already been done for Round 8 of Freeformaniacs: